Thoughts of the Princess
by ExArchmagus
Summary: Oneshot. Post GSD final battle. Now that Zaft has been defeated and Gilbert Durandal is dead, what will happen? Cagalli thinks about the future of the world now that the battle is over, and even contemplates her own personal relationship with a certain pilot. Read with an open mind. Not for easily offended AxC fans. May create a sequel later.


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny.

'Content'=thought

"Content"=speech

For some reason she sometimes talks and sometimes thinks... that's just my writing style.

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The Princess of ORB sat in her large, expensive, and fancy bedroom in her massive mansion located in ORB. Only hours ago had she heard that the ORB forces were successful in defeating the forces of Zaft and killing PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Gilbert Durandal, thus crushing his so called 'Destiny Plan' under the Archangel's massive metal foot. Ever since word of their victory reached the ORB Union and the people could breathe a little easier knowing that the threat of Requiem no longer lingered over their heads Cagalli formally left the government building and went home directly to her room. The Princess of ORB decided that she needed some alone time to ponder over matters, some of them being formal, and others being personal:

"Now that the battle is over... and ORB has been spared... what happens next? What will happen to the PLANTs? What will happen to ORB? What will happen... to me? To everyone else? To Kira?" Cagalli said out loud to herself. This was an interesting question, and one that Cagalli had spent all of her time thinking about.

'The PLANTs will have to take the time to elect a new Chairman... or Chairwomen. I hope they chose wisely and pick someone who is both gentle and knowledgeable... not one who suffers from Delusions of Grandeur and is overly ambitious. They've already had two leaders already who have tried to carry out their twisted ambitions upon humanity. There's also a matter of a treaty... I guess I'll call a meeting for tomorrow so we can draft one and discuss it with the rest of the world. Oh... how much of a pain that will be.' Cagalli thought to herself, wondering how much everyone would have to compromise. With Durandal gone, the word being that he was shot down by his own close friend... or as some would call him, son, Rey Za Burrel, the PLANTs would surely be in a state of complete turmoil. Unlike the first Bloody Valentine War there was no Eileen Canaver to perform a last minute coup d'état and calm everyone down. No... the PLANTs had fully embraced the idea of the Destiny Plan... and now that the head of the beast was cut off... who knew what would happen? Cagalli got out of her chair and walked over outside onto her balcony and looked out onto the island nation that is ORB, a slight breeze blowing in her rich golden hair as she breathed the healthy air of ORB.

"With the amount of damage the PLANTs have sustained in this war it's unlikely they'll continue the conflict in Durandal's absence. Even then... what happens over there is none of my concern right now as long as it does not affect ORB in a harmful way. We are neutral. We have our ideals... and we will stand beside them. Now that I am back in ORB and now that the Seirans are dead I will maintain my rule. I am sorry, my people, for failing you during the last war... for caving to absurd treaty demands... for leaving you under the rule of the twisted Seirans... for failing to uphold my great responsibilities and for even agreeing to marry that bastard Yuna although that plan fell on it's ass." A tear formed in the Princess' eye before she regained composure of confidence.

"However I promise you right now... I will not fail you again. I will not allow those political assholes to warp our nation into something that we all know it should not." Cagalli smiled as she said this. The strength of the breeze increased, and as it did Cagalli's blonde hair blew even more beautifully in the late night wind. Cagalli crossed her arms... it was getting colder and she shivered a little. The Lioness of ORB looked inside her room and looked at her clock, checking the time.

"2:00 A.M. in the morning? Are you serious? I've been up for that long?" She growled, looking up into the dark sky and seeing the moon and the stars. Cagalli walked back inside her bedroom and shut the outside balcony door. She then opened her mouth and yawned... loudly.

"I need to go... to bed soon. It's just..." She yawned again before looking at the bed. However she didn't feel like going to bed right this moment. Her mind did not agree with her body. No, she had something else that she needed to think about. "Athrun..." Kira would be returning with the rest of the Archangel crew, Athrun included. Athrun's return was not what was in question. What was in question was what he would do... or try to do after he got back to the homeland... and how Cagalli herself would react to his actions. The Princess then walked over to her desk and opened on of it's many fancy wooden oak drawers. Inside the Princess of ORB found that which she had been looking for. All alone, sitting in the middle of the wooden compartment, with nothing surrounding it was the ring. Not just any ring, THE RING. It was made of silver and had a pink jewel in the center. Cagalli then picked it up and held it close to her eyes. The Lioness of ORB felt like putting the ring on her finger... however at the same time she did not. There were 'two voices' in her head right now. One of them was telling her to put it on, and the other was telling her to leave it alone... and never let it sit on her finger again.

'I was forced to take this ring off once against my will... however when the wedding was crashed I put it back on. In time, though, I forced myself... No, I willingly took it off until all the fighting ended. I thought that because of what happened, I didn't deserve to wear it at the time. Even still... as I look at this ring... I get the feeling that I should not put it back on... for it will tie me down...' Curious as to why she would not want to put the ring on her finger, Cagalli contemplated her relationship between herself and Athrun Zala as of late.

"When we got back to ORB... that's when everything went downhill in the blink of an eye. The ministers wanted me to sign the treaty that would make us part of the Earth Alliance. However at the same time, he wanted to leave me and go on his own... 'temporarily' so he could pursue his own endeavours." Cagalli then remembered that fateful morning. Athrun had said that he was going to the PLANTs so he could 'talk' with Gilbert Durandal. "I didn't want him to leave... not at a time like that. I needed support. When he left he slipped this ring on my finger... and then walked away..."

'He wanted to marry me... but like that? Why? Why as soon as he left? I don't get it? Aren't couples supposed to be committed to each other?' Cagalli thought. Soon after Athrun Zala left ORB the Seiran family made their move on Cagalli now that he was gone. Through peer pressure and constant mental pokes, as well as a hint of guilt, they had practically forced Cagalli to marry the now dead and never to be missed Yuna Roma Seiran.

"The day I agreed to marry that purple haired bastard... my stomach churned violently. Athrun... had just given me this ring... and now I was forced to take it off. I felt like the worst thing in the world... like a scumbag. I felt like a complete and total traitor... like a double croser." Cagalli lowered her head... a tear forming in her eyes as she let out a light sob for a second or two. However, she left her head up a few seconds later... her face an angry cherry red, and not a blushing red.

"Wait... why do I act like he is not to blame? Sure... I folded... but he was the one who gave me this and then left less than five minutes later." Her face sparked with anger. "If he wants me to be his wife... then he should have stayed with me, but he didn't." Cagalli said as he grip on the ring tightened. Then the Princess of ORB remembered the encounter that she and her brother had with a certain blue haired boy. It was the first time she saw Athrun after he had left her.

"It was just after we had showed up... just after we revealed ourselves. He appears... now a soldier of Zaft. Ya, become a soldier of a nation that is 'at war' with the country that the girl you love is the leader of. That's such a smart idea!" She rolled her eyes. "I told my forces to withdraw... but they did not. I was broken... and then... we meet with him... and he tells us to leave and go home. Kira and the Archangel crew had gone out of their way and put themselves in great danger for me... they kidnapped me... knowing very well that if they were caught the punishment could have been incredibly severe, even if I tried to to help them. And then Athrun tells us to just go back. Like everything we did up to that point was a complete waste of time. Gah." Cagalli said as she then remembered what had happened the second time the ORB forces had tried to take on the Zaft Battleship Minerva. The Archangel crew came in at the last second and saved the Minerva from the same fate that many other battleships had already faced, and yet... Athrun...

'He tells us that we need to go back to ORB... that we're interfering in the battle... bringing chaos to the battlefield. Did he ever think for a second how long it would take to go back to ORB? Did he ever think about how I felt? My forces were doing something that they did not need to do... that was against their very ideal... our ideal... the ideals of ORB... However that's not all. We lost one of our greatest Captains in that battle... oh Todeka... why did you have to die? Why did you have to make a statement by suiciding your carrier into the Minerva's beam fire? And Athrun... why did you try to stop Kira? Kira... could have stopped all those battleships from attacking... that gundam... and it's pilot... Shinn Asuka... tore the ORB fleet to shreds... and I know Kira could have stopped him... but you Athrun... you had to get in Kira's way. No, ignore the fact that I, the girl who you put an engagement ring on, was crying my heart out the entire time... my heart completely and totally broken at the time... my soul crying out at this grave injustice. The women you loved so much you intended to marry her... you ignored her in one of her darkest hours.' She looked at the ring again, the two voices speaking to her. One still is telling her to put it on and the other telling her to never allow it to be worn by her hand ever again.

"The next we heard of Athrun, he had been nearly killed escaping Zaft after he decided it was time to switch sides for the... third time? Then Kisaka found him... but not alone. No, he was with... that girl... Meyrin. At first I doubted the idea that he was with her... if you know what I mean... but the way she waited by his bed... taking care of him... and by his side always unless he was in a mobile suit... Still she was devoted to you, Athrun. She followed you everywhere. She cared for you, and even put her own life at risk to follow you. However... I still don't think you love her back that much... but at the same time..." Cagalli lifted the ring up, faced the wall of her bedroom, winded her arm back, and then threw it at the wall, hearing it hit it and bounce off. "You're going to have to love her... because you're not getting me." Cagalli said as she realized something. The voice that told her to put the ring back on... it sounded a whole lot like the same exact voice she was listening to... that same part of her mind she unwillingly obeyed when she folded to the Seirans and the rest of the pro-Alliance ORB government. However Cagalli decided to give her relationship with Athrun one last minute of thought. She remembered when she was with him during the time of the Three Ships Alliance near the end of the First Bloody Valentine War. The Princess of ORB visualized her time alone with Athrun... it was he who sparked the moment... for the most part she was speechless... and she was blushing... and not in a crushing way. Cagalli then got up and walked over to where the ring landed and picked it up. She once again looked at it, examined it... thought about it deeply.

"It's not me who does not deserve to wear this ring... it's this ring which does not deserve to be on my finger... ever! It is you, Athrun Zala, who does not deserve, nor will you ever deserve to be my husband. You said you loved me... but you ignored me and did your own thing. You acted like you truly loved me when it was convient for you. If you want to do that... go right ahead, but find yourself a women who will accept that, for I will do no such thing." Cagalli walked over to the phone on her desk and picked it up and dialed a number quickly, her face still an angry red tone.

"Hello? Princess? How may I serve you this fine night?" A voice at the other end said.

"Yes. I know it's late... but could you please have a servant come to my room. I need something done." Cagalli said.

"Yes Princess. Right away, Princess." The other voice said before the line went dead. Cagalli sat back down in her chair and waited for... literally a couple of seconds before someone knocked on her door.

"Hello? Lady?" The voice on the other side said.

"Yes, come in please." Cagalli said. The door opened and one of her servants walked in. He looked tired, yet at the same time, had a look of determination on his face. He wanted to serve his Princess.

"Yes?" He asked. Cagalli got up and walked towards him, handing him the ring. The servant looked surprised for a second, wondering what this was all about. "This is?"

"See to it that this ring makes it's way to Petty Officer Athrun Zala as soon as the Archangel arrives in port." Cagalli ordered in a stern tone.

"Petty... officer?" The servant tilted his head in confusement. "I thought he was a Cap..."

"Petty. Officer. Athrun. Zala." Cagalli said in a firm tone her eyes deadly serious.

"Yes, your Majesty!" The servant said in a clear voice before he bowed to Cagalli and left. The blonde girl smiled as the door was shut behind her.

'Let's see what happens next...' Cagalli thought as she prepared to go to bed, seeing how late the time was already. 'Gah, I'm so tired. I have my whole life ahead of me... my whole life to find someone who will not shove me aside and ignore me after expressing their love to me.'

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Okay I can tell right now that this story will not be popular for obvious reasons, however if you could please leave a kind review. It would be greatly appreciated.


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